Race to the bottom: cell phones in India

India is one of the fastest-growing mobile phone markets in the world, adding 6 million new subscribers a month. In a market where 135 million cell phones are already in place and 450 million users are expected by 2010, handset makers are turning their attention to rural markets:

Since many people in India’s countryside often need to share one phone, Nokia’s new models include features enabling multiple users for each handset. For the first time, the phones have a call-tracking application and a multi-phonebook to make phone sharing simpler for customers at the bottom of the pyramid.

The low-cost cell phones will have FM radio and even a flashlight at prices as low as $19.